THE BOARD OF HEALTH AND QUARANTINE.

Evening Star, Issue 3742, 19 February 1875, Page 2

THE BOARD OF HEALTH AND QUARANTINE.

To the Editor. Sl n j—l trust you will allow me to tnke the earliest opportunity of appealing to the public of Dunedin against the action of the Board of Health in the matter of releasing the Gareloch from quarantine. The utter imbecility of that Board has shown itself on every occasion when it has had to act, but it has surpassed itself in folly and stupidity by its decision, as announced in this morning’s papers, about the Garcioch, Why, sir, every passenger and sailor on board that ship, every article of clothing or merchandise in her, is saturated with scarlatina eontagium. If the Board of Health wished to have scarlatina raging through this town and tho Province, and thence diffusing itself through the whole island, they could not do better than release the Gareloch. I have no time to write more, but having seen the frigfilful ravages of scarlatina at Home, having seen families made desolate by death of every child from this frightful disease, I cannot refrain from protesting against the astounding act of folly committed by the Board of Health. I send you a copy of the report of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council for 1869, which contains a memorandum on the precautions to be observed against scarlatina. You will see by them (which it would be well to rep int) how impossible it is for the Board of Health to adopt, between this and Monday, the measures necessary for preventing the propagation of scarlatina by the passengers, crew, and merchandise of the Gareloch, —I am, &c,, _ R. H. Bakewell.

i’ cui umy The disease is eminently one which we should wish to prevent; for, so far as it is nnprcveule 1 not even the best medical skill can always, Xnearly a’ways, cure it; and thus year by ye a l it kills thousands of us in England, besides i n . nicting enormous suffering (not infrequent],, with permanent injury) on many other tho., sands whom it attacks but does not kill. . . Scarlatina is profusely, and to a certain extent uncontrollably contagious ; unoouliol’a. bly, in so far as science cap not yet offer mmirst it any such personal protection as vaccination confers against small-pox; uncontrollably 80 far as, in order to spread, it does not, like typhoid fever and cholera, do; end or mainly depend on conditions which modemte sanitary care removes ; uncontrollably further in so far as its contagium is of most persistent activity, and remains in force for indefinite periods of time in clothing, bed-furniture and other objects which give it a resting-place. . . Thus, at present, we have not any other known power of dealing preventively with the disease than such as consists in interceptin'’ all contagious communication between the infected and the u on-infected parts of the population.